Disappearing Act
by bottled insanity
Summary: DxS 'And for my next trick,' the masked magician onstage declared to a nearly filled theater, 'I will make my lovely assistant, Sam, disappear' If only.


**A/N** Yes, yes, I know, I have like 50 other things I have to do, but the plot bunnies were threatening to kill me if I didn't. So I gave in. sigh The plot bunnies will be the death of me...

So this could be just a cute lil one-shot OR I could develop it into a story. Either way works. Just tell me what I should do nd I shall bend my will to you, the masses.

**Disclaimer:** Danny and Sam belong to Butch. But the magic...the magic is mine.

**Disappearing Act**

"And for my next trick," the masked magician onstage declared to a nearly filled theater, "I will make my lovely assistant, Sam, disappear!"

If only.

No matter how many times she'd done this routine, Sam still couldn't shake off the nervousness that came with parading out on stage. It was different from all of those times she would take the podium at animal rights protests and the like, mostly because she was dressed in one of those all-too-revealing sequined black outfits, the kind that leave very, _very_ little to the imagination. But hey, work was work, and she'd suck it up if it meant she'd be able to make a little money to live off.

Money was tight for her lately. When she left Amity, she left her parents' fortune as well. She might as well have been any girl who'd been interested in show biz but couldn't seem to get a leg up on the competition. Unfortunately for Sam, there was no real tomorrow to look forward to; she'd never been comfortable on stage, least of all like this, but she had nowhere to go but down. Down into the hellhole-in-the-wall restaurant she'd worked for the past year.

Applause greeted her as soon as she stepped one foot on the stage, most of it from the men that met her with appreciative stares. Now came the easy part. Adrenaline filled her veins, allowing her to smile in a very unforced manner, concealing as much of her disgust as she could behind the facade of her grin. She looked over the audience and took her time glancing at every section, making each of the men feel her gaze as though it were tangible.

Her partener ushered her forward and led her to a very elaborate box on stage, just about the right size for an upright human body. Her. "Now, Sam," he said in his rumbling bass, "if you'd please open the Disappearing Box for the audience to see..."

Obediently, Sam opened to latch on the door. The first latch. The one that would show the audience exactly what they needed to see - a solid box.

"As Sam is demonstrating," the magician continued, gesturing to Sam, who was currently turning the box around for everyone to take a look inside, "the box is completely solid. Now," he said with a flourish of his hand, "I will make Sam _disappear!_"

"I don't believe you."

The entire audience squirmed and began talking at the same time. Some guy in the front row thought the magician couldn't do it? What nerve! Why would he have to go and spoil a good show, why couldn't he just have shut up and let everyone else have their fun? No, at the end of ten seconds, the entire auditorium was abuzz with their own opinions about the boy up front.

The magician was unperturbed. "And what makes you so sure of that, young man?" he asked with a lift of his eyebrow. The audience setlled down to hear the boy's response.

"Because you wouldn't need a box if you could really do it."

On stage, Sam glared into the blinding lights, seeing only the man's silhouette. Why would he go out of his way to make these people decide they want a freaking refund? If that happened, she would be out of food for the week.

"And you, of course, think you could do it better," the magician stated, now crossing his arms. "Well by all means, if you think you can do the job any better than I can, be my guest."

"I think I'll take you up on that."

And with that, the guy stood and walked stage right to where the entrance to the stage was. Moments later, he emerged from the side of the stage. Sam gaped at him slightly. Only slightly. He was mildly attractive with black-as-pitch hair that hung in his face and blue eyes the color of a freshwater stream. His features were far from relaxed, as it appeared he was uncomfortable onstage as well, but he had determination in his gaze.

Looking out at the audience, the boy began to speak. "Hello, everyone," he began, smiling half-fake and clasping his hands behind his back. "Anyone want to actually see this girl disappear?" The audience, predictably, roared.

"I'm Sam," she said softly as the man began to approach her. "And whatever you're planning on doing, if it results in my being injured, dead, or unemployed, I'll haunt you to your dying day."

A small twitch in the man's eye caught her attention. "No problem, I won't kill you or maim you," he said with an easy smile on his face.

"Or get me fired."

"Or get you fired," he conceded. "By the way," he continued, "I kind of knew you were Sam, thanks to Magic Man over there."

"Oh...right..." Her face was on fire, or so it felt.

"Danny."

"What?"

"Danny. That's my name. I'm Danny." He looked at her, his crystal eyes locking with her own violet ones. "And I won't have anything bad happen to you, just trust me okay?"

Sam hesitated. Who wouldn't when a complete stranger that may have just cost them their job walked up and practically demanded their complete trust? "Okay," she replied after a moment or two.

"And don't freak out." His hand was suddenly on her shoulder, making contact with her skin. As he squinted his eyes shut, she noticed a strange sensation wash over her. First her shoulder, then her arm, then her chest and torso, before the feeling spread throughout her entire body. It was as though someone had just cracked a very runny and physics-defying egg on her. She barely had time to think about what that was before she heard the audience gasp and sputter in surprise.

Looking down, Sam saw nothing. Nothing but floorboards and this Danny guy's shoes. _Holy crap_, she thught calmly, strangely detctched from her in-body experience. _I'm invisible. I disappeared_.

The magician looked like he was about to pop a vein; his forehead was throbbing tellingly. Danny, on the other hand, just looked rather smug.

"Hello, everyone," he called out to the audience, his hand still firmly clutching Sam's shoulder. "My name is Danny Fenton and I will be starting my own magic act next week at the Ghost Portal Hotel. This," he said, gesturing toward the invisible girl whose eyes were currently twitching unconsciously, "is only a small portion of what I can do. Stop by and say Phantom sent you for half-price."

The audience roared in applause for the boy. The magician threw down his hat and angrily exited, stage left. Sam simply gaped at him before realizing that he still couldn't see her reaction and shrugging off his hand.

"Excuse me," she whispered urgently. Danny turned his head slowly toward her, a pleasant expression on his face. "I though we had a deal," she spat angrily. "You get me fired, I kill you. So get ready to die."

"Whoa, hold on there, Sam," Danny smiled, his arms out in a placating manner. "First off, you said nothing about killing me. Just haunting me until someone else does." She didn't smile, so he bravely continued. "Second, you may consider it 'being fired', but I consider it 'an opportunity to move up in the world'."

"Huh?"

Danny reached a hand behind his neck, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. "I'm all out of lovely assistants. Need a job?"

Sam's eyes widened. Did...did he just...what? "Um," she replied after a few moments of gaping stupidly, "yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."

His smile widened. "Good. I'm glad." He held out a hand to her. "Shall we?"

After only a moment of hesitancy, Sam reached for Danny's hand. "We shall." And off they strode.


End file.
